Page 73 of The Secret Librarian
‘So tired,’ Camille whispered as her eyes fluttered shut. ‘I’m just so tired.’
‘Stay awake!’ she heard Avery cry. ‘You have to hold this here, against your side. We have to stop the bleeding so I can figure out what to do next.’
Camille tried to keep her hand where Avery had placed it, against her side, but it hurt so much, and every time she pressed it, she cried out in pain. She thought she heard someone else crying too, but everything seemed blurry, as if the room and Avery and what had happened were all mixing together while she tried to focus.
‘Where’s James?’ she asked, suddenly confused. ‘Did something happen to him? I—’
‘Shhh, James is fine. Remember we left him to, well, to clean everything up,’ Avery said. ‘Now this might hurt, but I’m going to tie this sheet around you, tightly, to try to stop the bleeding.’
Camille wondered then if Avery had taken her starched white tablecloth from her display at the front of the store, but she didn’t have long to wonder before Avery moved her, positioning the sheet beneath her and tying it so tight that Camille fell into darkness, as if she were tumbling down a hole that went on and on, each spasm of pain sending her deeper, further away from Avery.
‘Hugo?’
Camille reached out a hand, smiling as he came towards her, his wide grin telling her that it had to be him, that he was really there. She tried to touch his face, to palm his cheek, but every time she reached for him, he was just a little too far away.
‘Hugo?’ she said again, stepping forward as she tried to get to him.
She was so certain he was there, that if she could just move a little faster, just reach a little further, she’d be able to connect with him.
‘Hugo!’ she cried this time, as something started shaking her, and her husband faded away as if he’d never been there in the first place.
But when she opened her eyes, it wasn’t Hugo staring down at her, it was Avery; her eyes were wide and she looked like she’d been crying, they were so red.
‘Hugo was here,’ Camille murmured.
But as Avery stroked her forehead and whispered something she couldn’t hear, she realised that Hugo had never been there. Her mind was playing cruel tricks on her as her body fought to stay alive, pain continuing to ricochet through her.
‘It’s just you and me, Camille,’ Avery said, softly, one of her hands reaching down to clasp hers. ‘You just have to hang on, you have to fight this, because I’m not losing you. Do you hear me? I’m not losing you, Camille.’
‘I know,’ Camille whispered. Avery bent low over her, her ear almost to Camille’s lips. ‘I know now, who did it. I know who betrayed us.’
‘And he’s gone now,’ Avery said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. ‘Now you get to live, Camille. You get to live for Hugo; he’d want you to live.’
Camille nodded, slowly, but it was a nod. Seeing Hugo had made her want to slide away from the world and reach out to him, but Avery was right. She needed to live now. She needed Hugo’s death not to have been for nothing.
She heard a noise then, turning her head as far as she could to see what Avery was doing. Avery was on her hands and knees, and Camille watched as she lifted the loose floorboard and took something out.
It wasn’t until Avery lifted Camille’s hand that she knew what she was doing.
Camille stared down at her hand as Avery slipped the gold band on her finger. Her wedding ring. The ring she’d taken off the day Hugo was killed.
‘You stay alive for him, Camille,’ Avery cried, leaning over her. ‘He would want you to live, do you hear me? He wouldn’t want this to be the end.’
Camille moved her thumb enough to touch the ring, the familiar round edges, the coolness against her skin. And she couldn’t help but wish she’d never taken it off in the first place.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Avery
‘I’m sorry,’ Camille gasped, her fingers sliding against Avery’s as she regained consciousness, her eyes fluttering open. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Avery held her tightly in her arms, collapsed on the floor of the shop. There was nothing more she could do other than pray. She was no medic, and Camille’s injuries were beyond her basic first-aid training, but it was heartening to see her with her eyes open and managing to talk again.
‘You have nothing to apologise for,’ Avery told her, trying to smile but failing. Her body kept shaking, and she was terrified, not able to stop her tears even though she was trying so, so hard to be brave.
‘But he wasn’t, he ...’ Camille gasped. ‘Tell James I’m sorry, that I never should have doubted him.’
‘Shhh,’ Avery whispered. ‘James is fine. All I care about is you pulling through this. You need to conserve your energy.’
